


At the World's End.

by TayBartlett9000



Category: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
Genre: Death, End of the World, Friendship, Gen, Hitchhiking, Sadness, Science Fiction, alternative universe, inner thoughts, sad fic, short fic, space, vogons - Freeform, what if
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-29
Updated: 2019-05-29
Packaged: 2020-03-29 10:40:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19018249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TayBartlett9000/pseuds/TayBartlett9000
Summary: AU. Ford Prefect escapes the distruction of planet Earth, but Arthur Dent does  not accompany him. Now as the  vogons  tear  planet Earth apart, Ford watches and  thinks of Arthur  Dent and what could  have been if he had accompanied  him into space.





	At the World's End.

I wish that  he   had come with  me as I had asked him to. I wish that he  had opened his mind enough to fully believe in a world  beyond this one. If he had, perhaps he wouldn’t be trapped down there on a world that is in the process of being wripped apart.

I had to  leave. Fifteen years of my life had  been spent on the surface of that blue-green rock in the middle of  nowhere and I was never  going to miss what would have been the only opportunity to get off that  lonely rock.  I just wished that Arthur  had joined me.

I had tried to tell him of the prospect of life beyond the human race. I tried to tell him that  if he remained on Earth, he, along with the rest of  his kind, would be obliterated and wiped from  existence and   from history. I  tried. I suppose that is all that I could do. I tried to get Arthur away from the  planetary distruction. I have seen first hand what those bloody Vogons can do if left to carry out the plans   outlined in  their paper work. I know what they can do and as I  sit in the vogon ship having been rescued  by their cooks, I can see the  planet being pealed like a large blue-green apple.

It is an awful thing to see, so awful that it is even enough to shake me up. I have seen many things during my travels through this galaxy and others and I don’t think that I  have ever seen anything as terribly unnecessary as this. I am sitting here in the sleeping quarters of the vogons’ cooks and watching the planet disintegrate before my eyes. I am watching the total distruction of the entirety of human history and the  complete annihilation of the human race, and of Arthur Dent in particular.

Why did he not choose  to come with me? Why did he not use his common sense and choose to save his own life?  I could have shown him so much. The galaxy is a fun place and if he had decided to come with me to  where ever the universe chose to take us, then I could have shown him that. I  could have shown him precisely what the galaxy has to offer the  willing hitchhiker and if only Arthur had joined me up here, he would have been spared  the goings on down below on the planet’s surface.

I cannot help but imagine what would have been if Arthur had taken it upon himself to join me in hitchhiking  the galaxy. I certainly would not have chosen anyone else. Arthur had been my closest or perhaps my  only friend while I had  been living on Earth. There  was no one else as dear to me  as Arthur was. I would have taken him to Betelgeuse and he and I would have lived our lives traveling the galaxy, journeying to anywhere and everywhere. It would have been an interesting time.

But it is not to be. The vogons have destroyed the planet in its entirety now. I can no longer see the  sphere that once hung in this particular area of empty space.  Now, Arthur Dent’s solar system only  contains seven planets, eight if one were to count Pluto. Earth is no more. It may be one of the most tragic things I have ever seen.  

I shall miss Arthur. Now that I have to  plan the rest of my galactic journey without him, I feel the weight of my loss. He would have been a fantastic companion to traverse the galaxy with, but it seems that I am to carry on alone. There is nothing I can do about it. Nothing at all.  Soon  the vogons will find out that they have a hitchhiker aboard their ship and I’ll have to find some way of getting off the ship pretty  sharpish. I’ll have to leave then. I’ll have to leave this galactic sector behind and I don’t think I will ever bother to return. I turn away from the window. I  don’t need to look at that patch of empty blackness any longer. I know the truth. I know what happened.  Pretty soon, everyone   will know what has happened.

Goodbye, Arthur.


End file.
